Persona 3: Fragments of His Soul
by pizza blade
Summary: We fight to preserve the world he left behind... We fight to safeguard the world he gave his biggest sacrifice for... And although he is no longer besides us, he will always still be here with us, keeping us safe with the warmth existing in his heart...


**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**OPENING NOTES:**

-English is _not_ my first language, and I _never _learned it in a dedicated sort of way, so I beg for your forgiveness for any possible incorrectness prevalent in this story.

-Although they may not appear during the first chapters, the main cast of the original video game is _still_ going to serve as pivotal parts in my story. In fact, you may also say that they are, truthfully, still the main characters of this story, with my original characters mostly playing in the background (though there are some exceptions.)

-I have never played, nor do I have access to, FES (no thanks to Atlus) This story takes place not so long after the final event of the original Persona 3, and FES—with all of its added characters and storylines—for all intents and purposes regarding this story, does not exist. I hope this is acceptable.

-My chapters tend to be longer compared to any other stories featured on this site. I also tend to take my time describing things, and to develop my characters using lots and lots of paragraphs, if necessary. So, if you are looking for 'fast-paced action-packed flick', you may want to look other places instead.

-Reviews, critiques, and feedbacks would be most certainly appreciated. Enjoy.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**-Fragments of His Soul-**

**-A fan-fiction based on the video game Persona 3-**

**-Written by Pizza Blade-**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**-Dream-**

"Gah!"

Ryuhei Kamazaki opened his eyes abruptly.

…

His face was sweating profoundly, and his heart beat accelerated rather rapidly.

"…Ugh," he muttered as he held his head with both his arms. He clenched his teeth.

…

…An unbelievable pain.

That was struck his head all of the sudden in the middle of this night that he was forced to wake up against his own will.

He was sleeping, when suddenly without a warning a sharp intake of pain attacked his head. Like it was getting jabbed repeatedly by hundreds and hundreds of sharp, pointy needles.

…The pain was almost unbearable.

…

"Hah… hah…" he breathed slowly as the pain on his head subsided gradually. He closed his eyes for a while, as his heart beat started to get slower, and slower.

He wiped the sweat off his face with his left hand gently.

Then he looked out through the window of his room, which located directly next to his bed.

…

Outside would be a total pitch black, if it wasn't for the soft light given to the earth by the moon…… it produced a strangely calming sensation to watch everything got illuminated softly by the tenderness of the moon—the sensation felt similar to watching a beautiful painting made by a masterful artist, or to watching an unforgettable scenery of a beautiful landscape.

…Whatever it was, it did well for Ryuhei, as he felt calmer and calmer as he continued to cast his eyes through his window.

…

He waited for a little while longer so that the stinging pain on his head to dissipate even more, before he whipped down his blanket and got down from his two stories bed.

He climbed down to the floor slowly, careful so as to not waking up his soundly-sleeping room-mate, who slept on the lower part of the bed. Although he knew that his room-mate was the heavy-sleeper-type of person who, once has fallen into sleep, wouldn't get up easily even if there's a truck crashing next to him, Ryuhei didn't want to give any chances.

If his room-mate knew that he suddenly awoke in the middle of the night with his entire body sweating and his head stung by pain although he was perfectly healthy, he knew that he would have to answer a lot of questions…… and he really not in the mood for that.

…Plus, there's the matter of tomorrow's business……

……He just couldn't afford to have strange illnesses jeopardize his shot tomorrow… If someone found out that he got struck by severe head pain on the night just before the big show, most probably his chances would be blown to smithereens—something he _really_ didn't want to happen.

…

Ryuhei walked slowly but steadily towards the bathroom, careful not to make too much noise as he crossed the room.

His head was still kind of fuzzy, and also funny in an unpleasant kind of way. His right hand was holding and messaging his temple softly.

…

-Creeeak-

He opened the door to the bathroom slowly, while cursing the door's stained joints causing the unfavorable squeaky noises as he opened it. When he glanced back to his room-mate, however, he was glad seeing that the noises didn't even bother the sleeping boy even the slightest—this was one of the rarest of times when he actually glad that he had a room-mate who's got a habit of sleeping like a damn brick.

Once he got inside, he closed the door again (-Creaaaak-) softly, and he proceeded to turn on the lights.

…

"…Damn it," he mumbled as he felt another jab of pain assaulting his head—it was in a magnitude much lower than any previous attacks, but nevertheless it was decidedly still unpleasant.

He approached the wash-stand and pulled on the mirror on top of it, revealing a drug cabinet. He took a small glass and a couple of pills from a bottle inside it, and then after filling the glass with water, he immediately drank it in tandem with the pills.

He closed his eyes for a moment, to get the feel that the pills were successfully driven inside his digestion system, before he returned everything back to its original location.

He then opened the faucet and washed his face a couple of times.

…

He didn't bother to wash the water dry from his face, though, because as he gazed at his own reflection on the mirror of the drug cabinet, his wore an expression like he just saw something truly extraordinary, yet truly incapable of understanding that extraordinary something was.

His eyes bore deeply onto the mirror, into his own reflection on the mirror.

…

……

"_What was that_,_ anyway_?" Ryuhei mused softly inside his mind—the pain on his head has completely gone away, but it was clear that the matter was not yet over for him, "_What kind of dream was that_?_, and why did I always have the same dream over and over again for the last one week or so_?"

He gazed onto the mirror as his mind rewind the moment where it happened the first time for him.

…

It started to happen approximately fourteen days ago; the dream, and the unexplainable sensation of pain that always accompanied the dream every time he has it during his sleep.

And the dream almost always re-occurred itself inside his head every time he closed his eyes.

It was……, a very strange dream, to be perfectly honest. It's strange not only in the sense that it was the _only_ dream Ryuhei could remember vividly even during his waking hours, and it wasn't also just in the sense that it almost always played itself repeatedly inside his head, in the same fashion… over…, and over…, right from the beginning to the end—like someone purposefully played a scheduled film reel inside his head each time he went to sleep.

It's also not only because the dream always caused him a big headache afterwards—like he's getting a terrible hangover from an overblown party just before……

…

No.

The most peculiar thing about the dream was the fact that it felt so……

……So…

…So _real_.

His dream felt so... inexplicably real—like it truly happened in real life, like it was, instead of just merely a construction made from fragments of his imaginations, truly, absolutely, real.

He could almost feel like he was _alive_ in his dream, and the sensation was so true that he could hardly feel any discernable differences between when he slept and when he was wide awake—it was really eerie.

…

……

The strangeness didn't end just there, however.

In the dream, he—he just existed inside the head of somebody he didn't even know. Like he was inside someone else—not him, not anyone he knew—just someone else entirely. Someone else he even didn't ever hear of… A complete and total stranger to him…

…

Ryuhei could feel what that person feel, and he could see what the person see…

…When the person inside his dream spoke, it felt like it was Ryuhei himself that spoke. When the person laughed, it felt like it was Ryuhei himself that laughed. When the person cried, it felt like there's a real sadness enveloping Ryuhei's heart too. When the person screamed in anger, Ryuhei felt like his own anger was about to explode too.

In his dream, it's like he experienced a part of that person's life first-hand… inside that person's own self…

…

…He knew the name of that person on that dream, though. He heard it mentioned in his dream many times. He could hear the name mentioned when other people in his dream spoke to that person…… and, above all, strangely, even without anyone else told him, Ryuhei just knew…

From the moment he experienced the strange reoccurring dream, he somehow instantaneously could tell the name of the person he became to in his dream. It's unexplainable, and he didn't understand it that well himself…… but somehow, someway…, he just knew…

…

……

Minato…

…Arisato……

…

That was the name.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryuhei was still gazing at the mirror while his mind continued to recall the dream in which he was somehow inside other person's body—a person called Minato Arisato.

…

……

During the dream, Ryuhei—through the eyes of Minato Arisato—experienced many things that were so out of this world …… things that just were not logical… things that no one in this world would believe you even if you insisted the hardest about their existence… things that weren't _supposed_ to be real in the first place…

…

…The dream always told Ryuhei about the same things over and over again.

…

Minato Arisato was a student of a school called Gekkoukan High. Just one look at him, and anyone could immediately tell that he was not just a normal student—or even, a normal person, by any means.

He was—for a lack of better word—special.

He was exemplary in not just one thing, but many things. He excelled at academic achievements, often scoring high and even the best score in his school for his tests results….. He also excelled at sports, where he showed extraordinary talents—which were always strengthened by his willingness to exercise hard work—in almost anything he touched, be it swimming, athletics, or even stuff like Kendo. He just one of those people who could just do _everything_ on _anything_, one of those people who could only be considered nothing less than a genius, a person gifted with an infinite pool of potential……

He was a kind soul too, making friends indiscriminately with all kinds of people from all kinds of background. And of course, to top it off, he was quite a hit among the opposite gender, although he himself always seemingly acting nonchalant about that kind of thing……

…

…But the thing that made him _truly_ special and different from anybody else was something so extraordinary that no amount of sane people would actually believe its truth. He was a member of a small organization called SEES—short for Specialized Extracurricular Extermination Squad: a group comprised only a selected number of individuals and supervised directly under the watchful eye of the famous Kirijo Group.

He was a member, and also some sort of a leader, of that group along with other individuals whom he—through his thoughts that Ryuhei could also feel and hear during his dream—considered his best friends and most cherished companions…

…Yukari Takeba……

…Junpei Iori……

…Mitsuru Kirijo……

…Akihiko Sanada……

…Fuuka Yamagishi……

…Ken Amada……

…Aigis……

…Koromaru……

…Shinjiro Aragaki……

All of whom lived inside the same place as him…… the Iwatodai Dorm.

And started from that, for Ryuhei things started to spin out of the ordinary, and all delved into the realms of an unreal universe…

…

……

SEES wasn't just an ordinary gathering of people. They were a group of individuals capable of calling forth a one-of-a-kind power called 'Persona'—_things_ hidden inside them said to be a personification of their personalities: beings that granted them the necessary powers they need in order to complete the main task of which the main reason why the group was formed in the first place.

Their main purpose was to defeat creatures they called 'Shadows', malevolent and peculiar shadowy creatures available in all sorts of shapes and sizes that were largely responsible for a phenomenon widely referred to as Apathy Syndrome. Those who fall victim to the syndrome somehow just lost all the things that made them humans in the first place—their expression, their intelligence, their will to live…… leaving behind only an empty shell of once a human—and they were all transformed into living zombies capable only of muttering gibberish and staring emptily into nothingness……

The people on the SEES called such victims as 'The Lost.'

…

Shadows only showed themselves during the _Dark Hour_, a period of time hidden between midnight and the first hour of a day. A period of time where everything turned strange—electronic equipment stopped working, the sky and the moon changed, blood everywhere on all corners of the streets, and ordinary people transformed into eerie looking coffins, oblivious about all the things that transpired during the period of time.

The SEES believed that they could find the reason behind the Dark Hour, as well as the method to completely eliminated it along with the Shadows, in a place they refer to as Tartarus—an extremely high tower challenging the might of the heavens itself. It was a very strange, and dangerous, place. It was actually the building of Gekkoukan High transformed into a colossus tower only during the Dark Hour, only to be reverted back to its normal shape when the Dark Hour has passed. The Tartarus perhaps could be best described as the nest of the Shadows, as it was believed to be the place that served as the source of all the Shadows that attacked humans during the Dark Hour.

SEES fought against many deaths and dangers on their journey climbing the monumental tower, hoping to find answers. They were also forced to answer to the challenges posed by many powerful, special-type Shadows that were far more powerful than any of their other brethren that showed up each month every full moon. Amongst all of those difficulties, they must also face up to the arising problems caused by living a practically double life.

Hours, days, and months passed, and the team faced many difficulties, many sadness, many harsh realities……

They met with many people, they fought with many people, they lost many people……

They continued to unite against many hardships that obstructed their path, until they finally reached the day of the judgment. It turned out the tower was constructed to serve as the welcoming place for a Great Being called Nyx—an indestructible and the most powerful Being acting as the Harbinger of Death and Destruction. Nyx was summoned by the collective amount of negative feelings inside people hearts, and responded to the call to just destroy all living life by those who didn't value the world they lived in. SEES saw any other way to save all life except to defeat Nyx, a Being believed to be undefeated by all.

…

New Year's Eve 2010, on top of the tower, was the moment of truth. SEES fought Nyx Avatar—Death incarnate itself—and won, only to be soon faced with the harshest truth that they, in fact, were all utterly powerless in front of the immeasurable power of Nyx Itself when It finally descended to the top of the tower.

No matter how much they cried, no matter how much they shouted they wouldn't give up, their attempt to even just standing in front of Nyx was crushed by its overwhelming power, and all they could do in front of It was just lying in the ground like insignificant little creatures facing the wrath of God Itself.

…

It was then, Minato Arisato made a decision.

The only decision that could potentially stall not only the destruction of the world by Nyx, but also a decision that could save his most treasured friends from certain deaths……

He…

…

……

And the dream always ended at that point.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pain in his head has subsided entirely, but Ryuhei didn't seem pleased at all.

…

He got the same dream again today like all the dreams that started one week ago, and yet he still couldn't understand them all even if it's just for the tiniest little bit.

When he first had the dream, he just quickly assumed it as only a mere product of his own imagination because he watched too many movies and played too many video games. He just dismissed it as something his mind caught on but he forgot about.

…And yet, the dreams always happened regularly, and it always struck his mind _each time_ he fell asleep. It even struck tonight, right before probably the most important event of his life tomorrow. What happened if he couldn't concentrate tomorrow because of this? What would the rest of his friends say?

And just _what_ kind of dreams were those anyway? If they were _his_ dreams, why not even in just _one_ of them he could actually see _himself_ in _his_ own dreams? Why must he always be _inside_ someone he never even met before? Why the dreams always repeated themselves each and every time he went to sleep? And why he dreamt of places he _never_ heard or saw, moreover visited yet?

…

He already asked his friends before, about the places on his dreams, the Gekkoukan High, the Iwatodai Dorm, Port Island, etc, etc. One of his friends said to him that those places really do exist, and they were easily reachable with little to no effort. Ryuhei actually thought that he should just visit those places, looking for those people inside his dreams, to find the answers as to why those dreams always haunting him in his sleep.

…But he didn't do it, because first of all: he was in the middle of something that he couldn't afford to leave behind, _no matter what_. Second of all, he felt kind of silly actually thinking of looking for people that existed _in his dreams_. He didn't want to waste his money to actually go to places he wasn't interested to visit in the first place to look for people that, most probably, didn't even exist in the first place anyways. And even if they were real, what would he say to them? That he saw them in his dreams? That he knew their names because they were there in his sleep? Even for him, it felt so far-fetched, and he couldn't even imagine what kind of silly look he would inevitably get from those people……

Come on, Nyx? Shadows? End of the World? Dark-Hour?

If anything, it looked nothing more than just a scenario for a very good video game or something, and nothing else.

…

……

"…Hhhh…" he exhaled slowly.

He looked at the watch on his right hand (he never let go of this watch, no matter what.)

It's almost four in the morning. He could just sleep again for a couple of hours or so before the big event, but the prospect of having one of those dreams again quickly diminished any of his intention to go back to sleep. Besides, he didn't feel sleepy anymore—part of it because of the forced awake no thanks to the dream, and part of it because he felt terribly excited about the big event that's about to happen in the next few hours or so.

…

Ryuhei contemplated his choices, before he finally decided.

He washed his face once more, and then he opened the bathroom door quietly (-crrrreeaaaaaakkk-) He looked again at his room-mate—still sleeping soundly, and he snored quite loudly too. Ryuhei thought that if the dream didn't wake him first, that loud earth-shattering snore should do the job just as fine.

Ryuhei then proceeded to walk to the northeast corner of the room, where's there two rather larger large round bag stacked on one another. He carefully unzipped the top bag, and then he picked something from inside it.

It was a basketball.

He carefully put down the ball on the floor, and then he picked something else from inside the bag.

This time, it was a folded basketball uniform.

Looking satisfied, he closed the bag again, and then he carefully tip-toed across the room while carrying both the ball and the uniform, before finally exiting the room quietly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-**Feelings**

"…Hop!" Ryuhei mumbled as he attempted a three pointer to the basketball ring.

The ball flew in a smooth arc, but unfortunately he missed the mark just a little. Instead of delving inside the net, it hit the ring's outer circle and bounced back, before falling helplessly to the ground, much to the dismay of the shooter.

"Damn it," Ryuhei said as he ran forward to pick the ball.

…

-Woooooossssshhhh-

…

"Brrrr…" he hugged himself because a sudden gush of wind flew through him.

He knew that it's going to be freezing—hell, it's around four in the morning, after all, and he wore a basketball uniform; not exactly the kind of clothes someone would wear to keep himself warm.

But he'd choose basketball at four in the morning anytime compared to going back to sleep with those dreams assaulting his mind again.

He was kind of lucky, though, because the basketball court itself was located exactly behind the lodge he and the rest of his friends stayed in, so that he didn't need to walk too far to look for one. One of his friends suggested the place because he knew that the owner—which was still a relative of his—was a basketball freak, and the owner would be _more_ than glad to house one of the teams that played in the Inter-High Championship finals.

…

Yes, that's right.

Ryuhei was one of the members of the basketball team in his school that managed, after so much effort—along with lots of wasted tears and sweat, to enter the prestigious Japan Inter-High Championship finals. Moreover, perhaps through the means of a miracle, they had a real shot to actually nab the national champion title right now since they managed to carve their path up to the final match!

If they managed to win today's game, which shall be launched in the next few hours, then the title of National Champion would rightfully be theirs… a reward that no one in their team would be able to forget for the rest of their lives……

…

...And the coach even promised him a position as one of the starters for the next game, which means that he would be up against the truly best high-school basketball players in Japan on an undoubtedly fierce match that will decide the next champion of Japan—a challenge of epic proportions that excited him to no end.

That's why he didn't want to alert any of his team-mates about his recurring dreams. If they found out about the dreams, as well as severe head pains that always ensued after them, it wouldn't be a total stretch for the worst-case scenario to happen: he would be pulled out from the playing roster and replaced with someone else. His team was one of those lucky enough to have various kinds of members with similar level of skills between each of the members, so Ryuhei could easily be replaced with other, dream and headache-free team members any time. The stake of the next final championship game was just too immeasurable.

He wouldn't want that to happen, of course. Their team already stayed in Tokyo—the city where the tournament took place—for about a week right now, and he still managed to successfully hide the fact about his dreams from any members of his team so far. He didn't want to blow his chance of playing basketball for the final match in Inter-High championships…… that's like the ultimate wish for every high-school basketball players in the entire country…

He had been waiting for this opportunity for a very long time now…

There's just no way…… that he would screw this opportunity up……

…

"Dreb, dreb, dreb…"

He dribbled the ball effortlessly on the court's ground as he ran forward to the ring. He ignored the chilling sensation of the wind as he moved forward and jumped…!

-DRAAAAAAAKKKK!-

And he managed to successfully land a slam dunk on the ring!

…

"Drrrr…. Drrrr… Drrrrrr…."

The ring was shaking as he hanged onto it for a moment as the ball fell violently onto the ground and bounced and rolled to the other side of the court.

He wanted to relish the moment even if it lasted only for a few seconds. The feeling of successfully scoring a slam dunk was really, really unbeatable. It was a feeling that's just _beyond_ practically _anything else_. As he continued to hang onto the ring, he felt like he was, at that single fleeting moment, the King of The World!

…

Although he already knew it in his heart, he just kept getting amazed to the fact that he really, truly, loved basketball. It was really the only thing that elevated him, that cheered him up—it always managed to swipe away all of his worries just like that…… like nothing else mattered anymore besides him, the ball on his hand, and the ring in front of him…

…

He let go on his grab, and as he smoothly landed back on the ground, he suddenly heard a continuous clap from somewhere near him.

"Clap, clap, clap, clap,"

…

Ryuhei quickly turned his head to see the person that just clapped, and he immediately spotted the perpetrator without any problem.

The clapper was a young girl, still wearing in her pajamas, plus a rather thick-looking sweater, with a muffler. Sporting a nice shoulder-length hair, a rather tall and proportional figure, and a cute face to boot, she was exactly the kind of girl boys would undoubtedly refer to as 'pretty' or 'beautiful'.

And right now she was smiling to Ryuhei—who clearly did not expect this kind of company during his alone-at-the-four-in-the-morning basketball saga.

…

"Kinamoto-san?" he said perplexedly—his heart was beating rather fast, and he wasn't entirely sure whether it's because he managed to just smoothly score a beautiful slam dunk or if it's because something else entirely.

The girl ducked to pick up the ball that was rolling right into her feet.

She then threw the basketball softly to Ryuhei, who caught it without any problem whatsoever.

"…The rest of the members always called me by my first name, Ryuhei-kun," she said, smiling, "So I don't want any special treatment from you. How many times already I have told you to just call me Hikari?"

"Uh…" Ryuhei muttered awkwardly, "…Yeah, right. Sorry, Hikari-san."

…

He bounced the ball back and forth repeatedly to the ground—he did that not because he wanted to, but just because he felt the _urgent_ need to do _something_ to reduce the feeling of nervousness that suddenly somehow just surging inside him.

"W…uh…" Ryuhei muttered as he cursed his nervousness inside his mind, "…What… are you doing out here, Hikari-san?"

"I should ask you the same thing," the girl replied as she walked forward, "What are you doing, playing basketball outside at four in the morning? And you are even wearing the uniform! Aren't you afraid that you're going to catch a cold or something, Ryuhei-kun? You'll about to participate in an extremely important game in the next few hours or so, you know…"

"……I couldn't asleep," Ryuhei answered truthfully.

"…Nightmares?" Hikari said lightly as she approached Ryuhei, "Or are you just simply too excited about the next game? It's the final of the Inter-High, after all—no one could blame you for being nervous for such an event."

"...Uh…" Ryuhei muttered—each step Hikari took to get closer to him made his heart accelerated even faster…, for some strange reason, "Both, I guess…"

Suddenly without warning, Hikari dashed towards him. Ryuhei was so surprised by that act that he literally couldn't do anything as the girl skillfully snatched away the ball he was bouncing. She then proceeded to dribble the ball smoothly as she ran away to the opposite direction of where Ryuhei was standing.

…

"Successful steal!" she said, grinning and gave a peace mark with his free hand to Ryuhei, "Don't let the coach know that I managed to score a steal from you, Ryuhei-kun! Or he will put _me_ instead of you in the starting line-up for the next game!"

Ryuhei just smiled.

Hikari ran forward while dribbling the ball effortlessly—it looked like she was already a natural at playing the sport—and she stopped just beyond the three-pointer line. She lifted her arms, and shot the ball to the ring.

Unlike Ryuhei's previous three-point shot attempt, however, her form lacked the proper coordination and as a result, the ball flew weakly—it fell back on the ground without managing to even graze the ring.

"Oh, my," she said, "…Guess being the manager of an Inter-High finalist doesn't prevent me for becoming kind of suck, eh?"

Ryuhei laughed softly as he ran to the ball and took it in his hands.

…

"…What are you doing here, Hikari-san?" Ryuhei said as he spun the ball on top of his right index finger—like before, he just felt the urgent to do something, _anything_, "…I thought you are still asleep?"

Hikari rubbed her two palms together to ward off some of the cold.

"Yeah, well, I want to," she said, "But I need to prepare a lot of things for you guys, you know. I need to do some chores, like preparing your breakfast, your vitamins…"

"…At_four_ in the morning?" Ryuhei was surprised.

"Well, there's a _lot_ of breakfast that needs to be prepared, Ryuhei-kun," she laughed, "We got ourselves quite a number in our team, yeah? I need to have all of your breakfast ready before all of you are awake, and let's not even forget to the fact that many members of our team—including our own coach—had an appetite that could rival even a horse when they're getting hungry!"

She laughed again.

"And just so happens, Ryuhei-kun, when I went to the kitchen in order to chop things up, I heard the sound of someone playing basketball on the court on the back. I wondered: who's playing basketball at four in the morning? That guy must be crazy or something!"

Ryuhei's expression looked kind of silly right now.

"Anyway," Hikari signaled Ryuhei to throw the ball at her, "Truthfully, at first I feel kind of weird seeing someone actually play basketball in four in the morning like this, but in the end I guess I am glad it turns out to be you, Ryuhei-kun,"

"…_Glad_……?" Ryuhei said in his mind as he threw the ball at her, which she managed to catch without too much trouble.

…

"So…" Hikari muttered as she threw the ball back at Ryuhei, "What kind?"

"…What kind?" Ryuhei caught the ball, "…What kind of what?" he threw the ball back softly to her.

"Your nightmare, I mean," Hikari caught the ball, "I mean, seeing that it even forced you to play basketball during this kind of time, I suppose the nightmare's kind of pretty bad, yeah?"

She threw the ball back at him.

Ryuhei didn't immediately answer that question.

He just caught the ball, thinking.

…

Was it really a nightmare, though, those dreams?

…

Of course, all of those monsters he saw through in those dreams were all terrifying and intimidating, and many of the scenes presented to him in those dreams weren't exactly the kind of things one could call pleasant…

But…

…

…Many of the things inside those dreams weren't exactly unpleasant too……

Like when Minato Arisato laughed with his friends, Ryuhei for some strange reason also felt a comfortable, pleasant, and happy sensation swirling inside his heart too. When Minato Arisato thought about his friends, he could also feel the strength of his feelings for them, and also the strength of their feelings for him…

The dreams also presented Ryuhei with many other moments where he could feel how great Minato Arisato's attachment to life really was, and how much he was willing to try to save it, even though in order to do so he must be willing to face unspeakable dangers……

…Those feelings…

……Were wonderful…

…

……

"Ryuhei-kun?"

Hikari's calling successfully snapped Ryuhei off from his reverie.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked him with a worried look on her face, "You are not sick or anything, aren't you?"

"Ah… oh…" Ryuhei mumbled, "N…no, no I am fine, sorry."

He threw the ball back to Hikari.

…

"Say, Hikari-san…" Ryuhei said.

"Hm?" Hikari replied as she threw the ball back to Ryuhei.

"……Do you believe in dreams?" he continued as he caught the ball.

…

……

It was an unexpected question, as made obvious by the look on Hikari's face when she heard it. Even Ryuhei himself was kind of surprised to see that he actually asked that kind of question.

"I…uh…" Ryuhei mumbled awkwardly; he felt really silly now—hell, he wouldn't even be surprised if the next thing that happens would be Hikari laughing at him, "…Never mind that, sorry…"

…However, Hikari didn't laugh at him. She didn't even smirk.

She just smiled.

"Sometimes, yes," she said softly, "It's not like I trust them completely, or distrust them completely also. I mean…"

She put her hands inside the pockets of long skirt she wore. Her breath appeared like a gust of thin smoke.

"…It's just that, no matter how much advanced humans are with our technology or what-have-you…" she muttered, "There will always be things that are beyond our logic or understanding in this world. I've met enough people in my life that believed dreams are something akin to divine revelations…… I wouldn't be so arrogant to assume that it is not true just because I never had experienced that kind of dream myself or because I couldn't understand it. It may have some truth in it, who knows?"

She signaled Ryuhei to give her back the ball—he threw it again softly and she performed yet another effortless catch with her hands.

"Why a sudden question such as that, Ryuhei-kun?" she said, "Is this about that nightmare you spoke of?"

…

……Yes, Ryuhei thought inside his mind, since those dreams felt so unbelievably real it felt kind of hard for him to just dismiss them entirely. Could it be that those dreams had some sort of truth behind them? But how could they be, when they mostly contained a lot of things—such as strange creatures, or end-of-the world threats—that shouldn't be exist in the first place?

…

"I don't really know," Ryuhei replied—he didn't know why he was willing to speak about this matter to Hikari at _four in the morning_, of all times—but he strangely felt like he actually didn't really mind even if Hikari should found out about his strange headaches, "…It's just that, it felt so real—the dream, I mean. It was like I was really there; like all the things that happened in the dream were all true……"

He stared at Hikari for a second or so.

"What do you think it'd mean?" he asked.

"Hmm…" she mumbled as she bounced the ball back and forth to the ground.

…

"Well, honestly, I am not exactly what anyone would call a competent dream interpreter," Hikari grinned, "But I think your dreams _may_ be a foreshadow of things that are about to come."

"A foreshadow?" Ryuhei repeated.

"Uh hum," Hikari nodded softly, "I have a friend, Ryuhei-kun: a nice girl she is. She's smart, cheerful, and all around pleasant to be in the company with. But her hobbies are….. well, I suppose the word 'unusual' fits perfectly in her case."

She then tried to spun the ball on top of her right index finger just like Ryuhei did before, but she didn't manage to put the act up for more than two or three seconds before the ball tilted off balance and forced her to capture it with her other hand before it fell.

"This is kind of hard… anyway, that friend of mine _loved_ everything…, and I do mean _everything_ paranormal. Strange creatures, ghosts, weird phenomena—well, for practically _anything_ that's even remotely paranormal, my friend there would love them all. She even mentioned to me that she's planning to make a career out of her unusual hobby—though I am not so sure what kind of career exactly could be derived from that kind of hobby…"

She tried to spin the ball again.

"Well… on the subject of dreams," she continued, "She once told me that people shouldn't underestimate the power of dreams. Dreams, she said—especially unusual, strange kind of dreams—could actually be a visualization of a person's prophetic ability, magnified tenfold because when we asleep, our brain was at its most relaxed state, and thus it'd be more receptive and responsive to…… uh…, paranormal waves or something like that…"

The ball tilted again.

"Well… long story short," Hikari caught the off-balanced ball once again before it fell to the ground, "She believed that dreams may actually served as a warning device of some sort, a method for our paranormal sense to inform us, in a cryptic kind of way, about things that will happen to ourselves in the future. Like… like a coded message that contained the secret information about things to come… you know… like that……"

…

Her expression looked silly.

"Did I make a lot of sense?" she asked.

Despite himself, Ryuhei actually laughed.

"No, unfortunately," he said—it's amazing how wonderful a laugh worked its way to ease someone's feelings… all of the sudden he didn't seem to worry that much anymore about the dreams, and even about the next game to boot, "…Your friend there is truly a one-in-a-kind, Hikari-san. That's…… probably one of the biggest joke I've ever heard in my entire life… Your friend is quite a comedian, eh?"

"Hey, that's my friend you're talking about there!" she said in a mocked angry voice, with a silly expression on her face.

They both laughed together.

…

……

"Well, if you ask for my opinion, though, Ryuhei-kun," she said as she threw the ball back to Ryuhei, which he caught easily, "…You're just tired, I guess—both physically and mentally. This one week has been a tremendous pressure for our team—I mean, who could have guessed before that a no name school like us could actually manage to make our way to the final game of the Inter-High? Even the coach himself looked pretty amazed in disbelief about our success. I personally haven't seen him that distraught before…. Not to mention that our team must fought against the best teams in Japan, teams filled with many amazing players—it must be very tiring trying to compete with those kind of people, right?"

She smiled to Ryuhei.

"So when this is all over, I bet you're going to sleep like a baby for two days straight without even a speck of a nightmare haunting your mind!" she clapped her hands, "Sleeping like a log, they say!"

…

…Come to think of it, those dreams did start to happen approximately a week ago, the same time when their team first participated in the Inter-High finals round. Before that, Ryuhei felt absolutely fine—in fact, he never as pumped up as he was one week ago in his entire life.

……Could it be that all of those dreams were just a byproduct of his tiredness after all? That they were all just a result of the overall pressure mounted over his shoulders because of his team's unexpected progress in Inter-High Championship? Because it's true that not a single second passed through in his waking time in this week that he did not spend worrying about what would happen to his team in this tournament—not to mention whether or not the coach would actually give him any chances to perform at each of many crucial games during the championship, and whether or not he would be capable of performing well should he get those chances.

The attention that their team got—as a newcomer managed to be in the final match—wasn't exactly helping either. The team received media and public attention, and many people send postcards expecting them to do their best—those were nice gestures and all, but they added even more pressure to the team to win the tournament.

…

So maybe Hikari was correct. Maybe all of those dreams were really just products of his wild imagination that existed because of the sheer pressure of the tournament getting the better of him and his nerves.

Maybe all of those dreams would just cease in the end…… after all things settled down…

…

Just the thought of that made Ryuhei feeling a lot better already.

…

"So, Ryuhei-kun," Hikari said slowly, "Come to think of it, I haven't congratulated you yet, have I?"

"Congratulate me?" Ryuhei was surprised, "For what?"

"Well…" Hikari muttered, "You did manage to win the coach's trust to perform at the final game. That's…… big, right?"

Ryuhei felt kind of bashful.

"…Yeah, well…" he said, scratching his head although it wasn't really scratchy, "It's not that big of a deal…… I, I mean…" he looked flustered, "I am sorry—it _is_ a big of a deal, but all of that won't amount to a thing if our team does not win the next, and final, game…"

"Don't say that it won't amount to nothing if our team doesn't win," Hikari took a few steps closer to Ryuhei, "Of course, I want us to win, but even if we are not winning the tournament in the end, during the course of us being here, we had managed to achieve many things that we wouldn't be able to achieve if we weren't here in the first place, Ryuhei-kun. I for one, at least, want to think it that way."

…

She approached him even closer.

…

And then, in a turn of event clearly unexpected by Ryuhei, she took off her muffler and proceeded to wrap it gently around Ryuhei's neck all the while she's leaning her face towards Ryuhei's.

During the time she's doing it, Ryuhei was unable to move even for a bit; he was so surprised by her sudden act that his entire body was suddenly paralyzed, with the only thing that moved like crazy was his loud heartbeat.

And his face was so red one could probably see smoke puffing out from his nostrils and his ears.

…

When Hikari finished putting the muffler on Ryuhei properly, she moved backwards a bit to observe the result.

She seemed mightily satisfied.

…

"Hehehe," she laughed bashfully, "It looks good on you, Ryuhei-kun."

"……" Ryuhei didn't say anything—it's like a part of his brain just went down all of the sudden. It's like he was suddenly thrust into something so overwhelming he really haven't got a clue about what he should do next.

"You want to continue playing until breakfast, right?" Hikari said cheerfully, "But if you are playing in the middle of morning like this with only your uniform, you'll be frozen! As the manager of the basketball team, it is my duty to ensure that each and every person in our team stays healthy, and that includes you, Ryuhei-kun!"

She pointed out to the muffler.

"…So don't you dare take off that muffler, okay?" she said as she turned around, "…Well, at least not until the tournament anyway! Promise me that, okay?"

Ryuhei couldn't do anything but to nod awkwardly.

She then started to run casually, hugging herself to ward off the cold wind.

"I need to prepare breakfast now!" she said, glancing back at Ryuhei and smiling widely, "Don't play too hard, Ryuhei-kun!"

She waved her hand, before finally disappeared out from Ryuhei's view when she took a turn towards the lodge entrance.

…

……

Ryuhei still stood there, not moving.

…

……

It took him a good five minutes or so before he realized what just happened to him.

Hikari had just wrapped her muffler on him, to keep him warm…

She put it on him herself... She just gave him her muffler, and then she wrapped it around his neck all by herself…

…

Ryuhei touched the muffler with his finger slowly.

He trimmed the surface of the muffler—he acted like he needed to make sure that the muffler was really there… that he wasn't just imagining things…

…

Suddenly, the issues of his strange dreams, his mysterious headaches, and even the tournament…

…All of those just suddenly didn't seem to worry him in the slightest anymore…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-**Promise**

"Damn it!"

…

"Daaaamn it!"

…

"Just daaaaaaaamn it!"

…

Ryuhei was trying to ignore the rant of the person sitting next to him, although it turned out to be a difficult task considering the fact that the person seemingly found that it was appropriate to rant continuously non-stop.

He was now inside a bus with the rest of his teammates and officials, all on their way to the place where the final game of the tournament took place.

Ryuhei sat on one of the seats in the back row with one of the players on his team called Ichida—which, by the way, his very own room-mate whom the most distinct personal qualities everyone acknowledged were his loud snore and amazing sleeping ferocity.

He continued to rant over and over again, and while Ryuhei felt annoyed by it, he knew that he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. And moreover, right now Ichida's rant was not the only thing that he must deal…

…

Literally all of his team-mates that sat near him were all looking at him. Some were looking at him mischievously… some were looking at him with annoyed look on their faces… some were looking at him with weird, indiscernible expression ……

One thing that's similar between all of them was the fact that there's a very distinct appearances of envy splattered all over their faces.

…

Ryuhei felt incredibly awkward because of this. He just couldn't believe that his friends would waste their mind on something like this when they were about to play in the final match of Inter-High Championship……

What happened, exactly?

…

Well, it all started this morning, actually.

As per requested by Hikari and promised by him, Ryuhei didn't actually bother to take off the muffler wrapped around his neck by her after he's done playing basketball in the court behind the lodge (not that he wanted to let go of that muffler that quick, anyway.)

And thus, when the rest of his team mates on the lodge started to wake up one by one in the anticipation for the final game, and all gathered on breakfast, eyebrows were raised and mouths got open when they witnessed one of their friends has already wore a uniform and—more importantly—with a girl's muffler around his neck!

The conclusion was easy after that, seeing that the only opposite gender available back then on the lodge were the owner's wife, which already reached the age of grandmothers, and Hikari, the pretty young one…, and grandmothers weren't actually the type that gave young boys mufflers………

The boys rose on an uproar.

It was only a matter of seconds for Ryuhei to become subject of severe questionings from the rest of his team-mates. Ichida, particularly, was especially adamant about requesting details since he was Ryuhei's room-mate and room-mates, according to him, should share all the juicy details with no bars raised! But even after Ryuhei told him and anyone else about all that happened that morning (except about the dreams and the headaches, of course), they still looked mightily unsatisfied.

…

Hikari didn't help matters too, since all the questions directed to her were all answered only with a playful smile. When Ryuhei—while ignoring many jealous stares—asked her permission during breakfast to take off the muffler, she nodded her head and responded in glee, "No way, Ryuhei-kun! You promised! Not until the game begins! And do not take it off on the bus too!"

…And so, it was unavoidable in the end for Ryuhei to be the one the team directed all their questions (and glares) on to… and it was made all the worse because he wasn't still allowed by Hikari to take off the muffler during their bus trip to the tournament hall.

The funny thing was, their coach didn't seem to mind a bit of a ruckus about this matter. In fact, it looked like he was kind of enjoying it, and probably he thought that as long as this 'problem' capable of lifting up the team's spirit and diminishing their stress and nervousness before the big game, then it wouldn't matter—besides, he already discussed today's play tactics to death with the team yesterday anyway.

…

……

"Damn it!" Ichida ranted again, "Damn it!"

Ryuhei sighed.

"Would you please knock it off, already?" he said, "We're about to play the final game, you know."

"Aw you be quiet!" Ichida replied. He sent a jab towards Ryuhei's left arm. "A guy with your kind of luck isn't allowed to order anyone to stop ranting! So be quiet!"

The guys in front of their seat, also in their back, and all who sat around their seat, all joined the conversation. Ryuhei was completely surrounded from all sides with no hope to escape.

…

"Yeah, yeah," said one of the guys on the front said with a bald head said, "We should be allowed to rant any way we want if it concerns you and Hikari-chan, Ryuhei, and you have _no rights whatsoever_ to tell us not to rant in front of your face!"

One of the guys from the back let out a distinct sigh.

"Damn it you're so lucky, man," he said helplessly, "Not only the coach entrusted you to play in the final game, you also managed to score a slam dunk with Hikari… If I knew I'd be getting personal quality time alone with her, I'd be up all night playing basketball instead of sleeping! Resting be damned!"

His seating companion ruffled Ryuhei's hair enviously.

"Aaaargh you're making us pissed, Ryuhei!" he said, "What luck! Now you've got no more excuse anymore! You must score at least 30 points in the next game all by yourself! NO FRIGGIN' EXCUSE!"

"H…hey, hey!" Ryuhei swiped his friend's hands off his head, "Knock it off!"

Despite what the rest of his team mates said, all of them unanimously laughed together when they saw Ryuhei's reaction. Even Ichida was smirking playfully.

The bus' atmosphere turned lively. The coach who was sitting in the front next to the driver didn't do anything to quiet things up, and Hikari, who was sitting exactly behind the coach, didn't do anything too. She didn't even bother to turn around to see what the ruckus was all about.

She looked especially cheerful though, and she had a wide smile adorning her face.

…

……

"So, man," said one of the boys surrounding Ryuhei, "When are you going to…… you know…"

"To what?" Ryuhei replied with an annoyed look on his face.

"You know……" the same boy added with a mischievous look on his face.

"No I don't," Ryuhei said firmly.

"What? You don't know?" the boy said in a mock surprised voice.

"I don't!" Ryuhei exclaimed.

One of the boys in the back suddenly grab Ryuhei's by the neck with one of his hands.

He lifted his pinkie in front of Ryuhei's face.

"He meant this, you moron!" he said, "…When are you going to make it official by confessing to her?"

Ryuhei's face went crimson red. He haphazardly let go of his friend's grip and quickly looking out through the window, trying to avoid the eyes of his team-mates. Of course, with that many eyes currently staring at him, that particular task was not that easy to perform.

"…Ooo look!" one of his friends teased, "Ryuhei's blushing! HEY! HIKARI-CHAN!"

He shouted loudly to Hikari in the front—an act so surprising for Ryuhei that he immediately turned his head to that friend of his,

"Yeah?" Hikari replied from the front.

"Ryuhei's here is _BLUSHING_!" he shouted aloud—Ryuhei almost jumped on him to prevent what he's doing right now, but the rest of the boys around him all quickly participated in grabbing him down so that he couldn't move.

The bus was filled with laughter.

"Really?" Hikari shouted without turning her head.

"Yeah, really!" the same boy yelled.

"Well then…" Hikari shouted back, still not turning back her head, "…Tell him I'm blushing too right now!"

…

-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA- was probably the only correct word to describe the collective responses by nearly all the inhabitants of the bus when they heard Hikari's reply. The bus was practically a riot right now—a cheerful kind of riot—even the coach appeared to be very amused by Hikari's direct response.

"H…hey!" Ryuhei struggled from all of the hands of his team-mates holding him down, "L…let me go you jokers! I am going to get you all for this!"

His friends let him go as they continued to laugh at the flushed expression on his face.

…

"Okay, okay, calm down everyone…" Ichida waved his hands to all the people surrounding him and Ryuhei, and they all turned their attention to him.

Ichida suddenly looked at Ryuhei with a very serious expression on his face—the change was so sudden that it took Ryuhei off-guard.

"Seriously, though, Ryuhei—when are you going to make her your official girlfriend?" he asked, "I mean, what are you waiting for anyway? All the people in the team knew already that you had a thing for her, right guys?"

"Yeah, yeah," the guys surrounding Ryuhei nodded together almost at the same time.

Ryuhei turned his eyes to the window of the bus again, staring at the moving sceneries outside as their bus continued to move forward.

…

"Well, you _do_ like her, right?" Ichida insisted.

Ryuhei didn't answer the question, but his face turned crimson again—that's a clear enough answer for Ichida and the rest of the boys. Some of them started to whistle teasingly and some of them started to laugh playfully.

"Well then!" Ichida persisted, "What are you waiting for, really?"

…

……

"……I am just not sure…" Ryuhei mumbled—in the end, it would appear that he caved in to the pressure, "…I am not sure whether… Uh…"

Ichida sighed. And not just him too—many people around him were sighing. Some clearly had an annoyed look on their faces—a look saying that they would be more than happy to smack some sense into Ryuhei without mercy.

"Aw maan… just that?" Ichida muttered, "Say, Taka! Tell him about your experience with Hikari!"

All of the boys—including Ryuhei—quickly turned their heads to Taka, the name of one of the boys sitting behind Ryuhei.

Taka leaned forward towards Ryuhei, grinning—it was clear that he's enjoying his temporary spotlight.

…

"…Well…" he said with a straight face, "I confessed to her."

"_What_?" Ryuhei exclaimed in shock—clearly, he didn't expect to hear this kind of information.

"And not just me too, right?" Taka's eyes were sweeping around the guys surrounding Ryuhei and Ichida, "Almost all the guys here had confessed to her using various kinds of methods. We're all just simply enchanted by Hikari-san's beauty and personality."

Many of the guys looked silly now—kind of ashamed, but they didn't seem the very least upset about it.

"Yeah, and what's the result, gentlemen?" Ichida played news reporter.

"Reeejected," Taka laughed a little as he tapped on Ryuhei's right shoulder.

"Nada," said one of the boys.

"Zip," said another.

"Uh-uh," said another one.

"Nooo luck," said yet another one.

…

"W…Well," Ryuhei felt kind of awkward right now—he didn't seem to think that a single girl could actually enchant this many people at the same time, "So what?"

"Sooooo it's obvious that by rejecting the confession of all the fine young man here," Ichida explained playfully, "That Hikari already placed her heart on someone else! And _don't_ make me—for all the love in the universe—_don't_ make me mention to you the name of that particular someone that she likes!"

Ryuhei was blushing again. The muffler surrounding his neck felt especially heavy all of the sudden.

"It's obvious that it's you, dude," Taka ruffled Ryuhei's hair, "Come on, one look at her and it's obvious for anyone not blind or stupid that she likes to be with you. It's true that she is kind to all of us, but the only time she showed that special type of kindness that we all sooo desperately crave for ourselves was only when she's dealing with you. You're one lucky bastard, you know that?"

"Hear, hear," said one of the boys, while many of them nodded their head in agreement.

"So that's that!" Ichida jabbed Ryuhei's arm again lightly, "It's a two way highroad already, so what are you waiting for anyway?"

…

It seemed that Ryuhei was thinking about something.

"……Why are you guys telling me all of this?" he asked with a honestly curious expression on his face, "…Is it really that important for you guys for me to… t…to… uh…" he paused a little, "…Do what you told me to do? What's in it for all of you?"

"Nothing is 'in it for us', Ryuhei. It's just because…" this time one of the boys sitting in front of Ryuhei and Ichida's seat jumped in with his contribution on the matter, "We all would really like to make Hikari-san to be happy, Ryuhei."

"Yes, that's particularly why," Ichida smiled, "It is not an exaggeration to say that without her, we're not even going to be here in the first place—in this bus, playing the final game of Inter-High."

"Yup, that's true," Taka added his words, "It may be not that obvious for an outsider, since all they could see working hard on the tournament were the coach and the players. But we all here knew the truth—the hardest worker amongst all of the people inside our basketball team is none other than Hikari-san herself."

"Correct, correct," said one of the team members, "She is our only manager, and she single-handedly must fulfill an obligation of taking care all of us right from the beginning up until now, and even in the future. And not once…" the boy raised his index fingers and shaking his head, "…Not even _once_ we heard her complaining. She's truly a one-of-a-kind person, Hikari-chan…"

"That's why none of us are mad even when she rejected our feelings," Taka smiled, "…Disappointed, of course, but not mad. She's just the kind of person no one could afford to get mad with, and she's also the kind of person that everyone would always want to support with, and wished for her happiness…"

"Sooo… we would like to show our thanks for her support all this time by making her happy, and that's where _you_come in, you sly dog!" Ichida pointed at Ryuhei, "We're leaving that job to you!"

Ryuhei leaned back on his seat, his face still looked kind of flustered.

"…If it's her happiness you're worried about, let's just win our next game and become the National Champion," he said, "…That'd make her happy, for sure."

"Well of course!" Ichida said, "Of course that'd make her happy. But it's not her _especially_ that'd be happy if that is the only case. We want her to be _happy_ just especially for her and her alone. _Just_ special for her. That's why we want _you_ to make it happen, Ryuhei!"

"Why are you hesitant, anyway?" said a boy inside the group surrounding Ryuhei and Ichida, "All you need to do is to open up and be honest with her, and -Snap-! There you go—as easy as that! What more signs are you waiting for? For God's sake, she even gave you her muffler and asked you not to take it off for whatever reason! It's like she announced to the rest of us that, 'hey, all of you leave me alone, okay? I've already had my eyes set at Ryuhei-kun!' Damn, man!"

…

……

"………" Ryuhei didn't answer that assessment.

His expression looked kind of miserable.

…

Ichida sighed.

"Tell you what—hey all of you guys, listen to this also!" he said to the boys, "Ryuhei, listen to this—let's make a deal."

Ryuhei averted his eyes to Ichida, his expression turned curious.

"If we are able to win against Meisei High in the final game with 5 points or more differences in the last score," Ichida continued, his eyes glimmering with excitement, "Then you must _promise_ us that you will confess to Hikari about your feelings for her during the after-match celebration the coach promised us if we win. So, what say you?"

Ryuhei was surprised by this suggestion for a moment or so he was looking at Ichida like a scientist looking at a newfound organism coming from outer space. His eyes grew larger it looked like they were about to pop any seconds now.

Taka and the rest of the other boys surrounding him and Ichida quickly threw looks to one another. Few of them looked kind of pessimistic, but most of them actually had that eager look on their faces—like they were suddenly presented with a challenge so exciting they couldn't help themselves but to feel burned up by it.

…

"Five points differences?" Ryuhei said, "It's Meisei we're talking about here! Inter-High _six_ times consecutive winner! The record breaker! The King of Japan's high-school basketball!"

"So you're saying that we can't win?" Taka said all of the sudden from behind, "That it's an impossible task for us? Impossible even when we—against all odds—have managed to make our way to the final game of this tournament?"

"I am not saying that!" Ryuhei looked annoyed, "I am just saying that we should be realistic! Five points differences are just too steep! Didn't you remember what kind of monsters there inhabiting Meisei's starting line-up?"

Ichida smiled.

"Well, that's one of our starting line-up players think that it's a too much task for us to handle, winning against Meisei High with that kind of goal. I, as the other starting line-up, think it is certainly not beyond our scope of capabilities," he said, "What about you, Taka?"

Taka clapped his hands.

"Interesting," he said eagerly, clenching his fist in excitement, "Now I have another good reason to go all out during the match. And come to think of it, this is also for the sake of Hikari-san. Expect me to perform like crazy like never before, _that_ I promise!"

"What about our ace, Hiro Hiragashi?" Ichida moved his eyes to one of the boys sitting directly to the left of his seat, who joined in the conversation since the beginning but haven't actually said anything yet, "What do you think?"

Hiro just smiled.

"…Just five points?" he said with his head held a bit high, "…My original plan was to make it _ten_ points differences. So I am kind of insulted if Ryuhei here thinks that even with my help, our team would not be able to win against Meisei with five points difference. What a joke!"

Ichida laughed at Hiro's apparent arrogance, while the rest of the boys—excluding Ryuhei—all reacted strongly to that statement. All of their faces immediately lit up with eagerness and excitement, and those who pessimistic before about Ichida's seemingly crazy idea started to show

"And what about you, Yoshi?" Ichida said to a boy sitting on the seat in front of Hiro's, "What do you think, as our Point Guard for the game?"

"Me?" Yoshi replied, "I am risking to tainting my image by sounding oh-so-clichéd by saying this, but I believe in myself, and also I believe in the rest of you guys. If we work hard enough at a goal, nothing is impossible to achieve!"

The boys all laughed hearing his statement, though nevertheless it was apparent from each of their faces that they obviously appreciated and even valued his sentiment and optimism.

"Spoken like a true poet!" Ichida clapped his hands lightly, before turning his attention back to Ryuhei, "So what say you, Ryuhei? Are you man enough to accept our deal? Or are you just another spineless chicken not willing to take up any chances where the challenges are just seemingly too high for you to handle?"

"And don't worry if one of you starting players breaks your leg or something during the match," said one of the other boys, "We in the bench team will be more than happy to offer our legs too in order to win with more than five points over Meisei, _believe it_!"

…

Ryuhei gazed at Ichida still with that disbelief splattered all over his face. He then turned to look at Taka, Hiro, Yoshi, and the rest of the boys surrounding his seat.

…

"So, what it's going to be?" said Taka from the back, "Yay, or nay?"

…

"Fine," Ryuhei finally said, before he quickly averted his eyes back to the window of the bus next to him.

"What's that?" Ichida glared at him, not quite believing his ears.

"I said fine! Alright, I promise!" Ryuhei said, still looking at the window, though it was apparent that his face was obviously crimson red.

The boys surrounding him quickly exploded into cheers, yells, and excitement. Many clapped their hands animatedly while all the same time cheering Ryuhei, and Ichida wasted no time to grab Ryuhei's head with a friendly dead-lock, saying, "Attaboy!"

…

"HEY!" their coach suddenly yelled from the front seat, "What are you all doing over there? We're about to arrive at the stadium! Don't dilly-dally around!"

The boys surrounding Ryuhei and Ichida dispersed, and each of them returned to their original seats. One of them shouted back to the coach, "We're not dilly-dallying coach!"

"Yeah!" Ichida added shouting, "We are renewing and improving our determination to crush Meisei High! We're going to beat them silly! Isn't that right, boys?"

"YEAH!" responded the others with their fists shot to the air, spirit and eagerness filling each and every one of them.

The coach smiled.

"Well that's GOOD!" he responded in high spirits, clenching his fist, "Yeah, LET'S CRUSH MEISEI HIGH!"

"CRUSH MEISEI HIGH!" Ichida replied.

"CRUSH MEISEI HIGH!" Shiro added to the shouting.

"CRUSH MEISEI HIGH!" Taka didn't want to miss on the show.

"CRUSH MEISEI HIGH!" suddenly Hikari yelled from the front seat, jabbing his right hand upwards in high spirit—an act that not only managed to get the rest of the boys roared with laughter, but also uplifted their spirits to seemingly unprecedented heights.

…

"CRUSH MEISEI HIGH!" "CRUSH MEISEI HIGH!" "CRUSH MEISEI HIGH!" filled the entire bus as it approached the stadium where the final match would be commenced.

During the commotion, Ryuhei turned his eyes to watch Hikari from behind, and by some chance, at the same time, Hikari turned her head back, glancing at his direction.

Their eyes met with each other—and suddenly Ryuhei just couldn't hear all the shouting and yelling around him anymore. In fact, during that one fleeting moment, the entire world around him just… disappeared—vanished into nothingness. All things that existed were just him, and her, staring at each other meaningfully.

…

Hikari gave Ryuhei a smile, before she turned around and continued yelling in high spirits.

…

……

All of the sudden, the task of outscoring Inter-High's six times consecutive winner, the record breaker, and the King of Japan's high-school basketball…… it just didn't seem _that_ impossible anymore.

…

…Not anymore.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**-THE END OF PART ONE-**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**CLOSING NOTES:**

-That's the end of part one. I realize that it is 'slow'—there's no significant story progresses, and also not too much Persona things running around yet, but this chapter's main purpose is to show off the relationship between Ryuhei and Hikari, which will play an important part in the future chapters. And besides, the original game made a good job of contrasting and balancing its atmosphere between ordinary life and bashing-Shadows-in-the-head kind of life, and so I intend to do the same.

-I don't really know what city in Japan served as the location for Inter-High basketball championship, so I just put Tokyo in randomly. I apologize if this turned out to be incorrect.

-Next chapter will mark the beginning of a complete turn-around for my story in terms of 'flavor'. What I mean is, if this first chapter the overall atmosphere of the story is, in summary, "light and bright", things will begin to turn darker and more sinister from chapter two onwards. Also expect to see many Persona-themed things making appearances, along with some familiar faces making their entrance to my story.

-I extend my deepest and greatest gratitude to those willing to read through my story. I wish you the best of luck for 2008, and may we all be blessed with good fortune in all things. Thank you very much.

_First written on December 27__th__ 2007 at 8.00 PM_,_ and finished on December 29__th__ 2007 at 7.10 PM_.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**


End file.
